12. a. The department shall not charge an admission fee for entrance into a State park or forest by any resident of the State of 62 or more years of age or who is totally disabled or who is an active member of the New Jersey National Guard who has completed Initial Active Duty Training. The department shall prescribe by regulation the types of evidence that may be used to qualify persons for the benefits of this subsection.

b. The department shall not charge a disabled veteran a fee to obtain, replace, or renew a permit to operate a motorized vehicle on a State park beach.

c. As used in this section :

“Disabled veteran” means any resident of the State who has been honorably discharged or released under honorable circumstances from active service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States and who has been declared by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, or its successor, to have a service-connected disability of any degree.

“Initial Active Duty Training” means Basic Military Training, for members of the New Jersey Air National Guard, and Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training, for members of the New Jersey Army National Guard.

L.1983, c.324, s.12; amended 1993, c.304; 2019, c.398, s.2.